From Jim Souhan, Minneapolis Star Tribune: “To be a Vikings fan these days, you need a gallon of Pepto-Bismol and a Hazmat suit.” ...

From Mark Whicker, Orange County Register, recalling that Jim Leyland celebrated after managing the Pirates to the 1990 NL East pennant in New York: “Leyland said he might or might not have been a little tipsy, ‘but I put a quarter in the parking meter and it said 60 and I thought, damn, I've lost 100 pounds.’" ...

Larry Stone, Seattle Times, recalled that the late Washington coach Don James was given the OK by his wife to buy Playboy only when the college football issue came out.

"But she said it was a lot like National Geographic," James said, "full of pictures of places that I would never get to visit." ...

Johannesburg-Lewiston, coached by 1990 Forest Park grad Joe Smokevitch, needed a win over Pellston last night to qualify for the Michigan state football playoffs.

Joe captained the 1989 Trojans and played on the 1988 team that lost to Lake Linden in the playoffs at snow-covered Mountaineer Stadium ...

Tom (Richie) Kaeser of The EagleHerald continues to set the bar a little too high for the rest of the U.P. media.

“This season has been such a blessing,” Kameron, a senior, told Tom (Richie) Kaeser of The EagleHerald. “I want to thank my parents, grandparents and coaches. They all gave me so much support. They made me push myself.” ...

Bob Erkkila of Calumet points out that WCCY-AM in Houghton has been a Red Wings affiliate “since the 1950's when its call letters were WHDF.” ...

John Novara’s Portland Red Raiders will enter the postseason after a loss in their final regular season game.

The defending Division 5 state champions fell to DeWitt 13-7 in a battle of Lansing area unbeatens. Portland has a bye in the final week of the regular season.

“They’re (DeWitt) tough to run the football on, and that’s how we make our living,” Iron Mountain’s Novara told the Lansing State Journal ...

From Brad Dickson, Omaha World Herald: “Reportedly, the Chicago Cubs are seeking a bilingual manager. You have to be able to say “disappointment,” “gut wrenching,” and “I have no idea how that happened” in three languages.” ...

The late Bum Phillips turned out some great one-liners during his coaching career. When coaching the Houston Oilers, Bum wasn’t concerned that star running back Earl Campbell failed to complete his mile run during training camp.

Former Menominee High School quarterback Bill Rademacher attended the 107th M&M Game at Walton Blesch Field.

“Football is big around here, that’s all there there is to it,” said Rademacher, who starred at Northern Michigan University and played professionally with the New York Jets and Boston Patriots. “Even though I played in a Super Bowl, if there is one other game I’ve always had in the back of my mind, it’s playing in the M&M game.” Rademacher believes Marinette was out to get him in the 1959 game, angering his opponents by dating a popular Marinette cheerleader.

“I wasn’t a very popular guy with the Marinette gentlemen,” Rademacher said. In this year’s game, Menominee outscored Marinette 56-27 to even the series 50-50-7 ...

Marinette’s Lexi Wilson and the Wisconsin-Green Bay women’s golf team didn’t mind an errant ball at the Green Bay Country Club. It just happened to be struck in the wrong fairway by Packers star Aaron Rodgers.

“He looked up and made eye contact with us (while looking for his ball), and we were all freaking out,” Wilson told the EagleHerald. “He talked to us a little bit, but most of us don’t know what he was saying. We were in such shock.”

Rodgers, at the girls’ request, posed for a picture. Wilson, a 2012 St. Thomas Aquinas Academy graduate, won this summer’s Riverside Golf Club title ...